Dear Labor Section members,

As the incoming Chair, I wanted to thank you all for helping make ASA in NYC such a success and thank outgoing chair Steven Lopez for his work, leadership and enthusiasm.  I also want to update you on section news and activities as we gear up for another exciting year and the run up to ASA in San Francisco next August.

First, ASA in New York was outstanding, particularly our mini-conference on Labor and Global Solidarity.  We had over 220 attendees at the Murphy Center and over 40 paper presenters, including 5 of our exchange colleagues from China.  The Chinese scholars were particularly impressed by the range of presentations and the possibilities for further collaboration and possible joint research.  Thanks to Carolina Bank Munoz and David Fasenfest for helping me co-organize the conference and for everyone who participated and attended.  We are now working on a publication plan and will continue our collaboration with the Chinese labor sociologists over the next year.

Second, we want to build on the momentum of the mini-conf and ASA and boost our membership numbers.  Due to a big push last year, we reached the threshold of 400 members (we're now at 424), so we are guaranteed 3 paper session at next year's ASA meeting in San Francisco.  However, we want to continue to build our section and the deadline for the "official" membership count is Sept. 30th.

So I urge all of you to reach out to colleagues and especially graduate students and encourage them to join.  Membership in the section is only $10 for faculty and a bargain $5 for students.  One great way to bring folks in is for faculty members to "sponsor" (ie cover the $5 membership fee for) grad students they know that would benefit from membership.  A big bonus for students is our mentoring program that matches students with senior scholars to get research and career advice.

To join the section, just log in to ASA at http://www.asanet.org/index.cfm , and under Join/Renew, click on Join a Section.

I'll be sending another message soon about our section's 3 paper sessions at ASA in SF next year.  We will be implementing some changes that the program committee and section council hope will increase interest and paper submissions to our sections panels. 

Finally, we are still looking for someone to take on the editorship of our section's newsletter, In Critical Solidarity.  Mike McCarthy is stepping down (thanks Mike!), and we really need someone to step up and take the reigns.  Please contact me directly if you're interested or know someone who might be!

Thanks everyone and I look forward to building on our momentum through the year!

In solidarity,
Steve
---
Steve McKay
Associate Professor of Sociology
Director, Center for Labor Studies
University of California, Santa Cruz
Chair, ASA Labor and Labor Movements Section

Labor Section members:
LERA is a great, highly interdisciplinary organization that brings together academics and practitioners (including union and worker center folks) and is very interested in including sociological perspectives.  I have found their meetings stimulating for 25 years, and I encourage folks to submit.
Best,
Chris Tilly

CALL FOR PAPERS AND PANELS

 The Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) Program Committee invites proposals for stimulating, creative, and controversial panels, symposia, workshops and papers related to the theme: Renewing Employment Relations for Shared Prosperity: Research, Practice and Policy, as well as other topics of current interest and the mission of LERA.  

Following an extremely successful meeting in St. Louis this past June, LERA plans on an even stronger program for the dates May 29th - June 1st, 2014, Portland, Oregon, at the Hilton Portland and Executive Towers.

Our program's format offers fresh opportunities for thought leaders from all aspects of employment and labor relations. Individual and Full Session proposals are accepted and may take a variety of forms: Symposia, panels, workshops, posters, presentations, skill-building debates, roundtable discussions, etc. The number of tracks and length of sessions depends on the quantity and quality of proposals. To encourage thought diversity, participants may only present on the program once.

We encourage submissions from the perspectives of multiple disciplines–including but not limited to economics, sociology, political science, labor and employment law, industrial relations, and human resource studies and different stakeholder perspectives, including investors, managers, employees, policy makers, and unions, especially the relationship of multiple perspectives.

Deadline for proposals is October 4, 2013. The Chair and Program Committee welcome session proposals from the best and brightest. Proposals for complete sessions have a higher probability of inclusion than papers submitted individually. To submit an online proposal, visit the LERA website www.LERAweb.org/66th-LERA-Call.

Lisa Lynch, LERA President and Program Chair

Dear Labor Section,
Sept 30th is the deadline for abstracts to the International Sociological Association Meeting in Japan. Please consider submitting an abstract to the following panel...




Confronting the Challenge of Global Corporate Empires
Session Organizers

• Bridget KENNY, University of Witwatersrand, South Africa, Bridget.Kenny@wits.ac.za 
• Carolina BANK MUNOZ, CUNY Brooklyn College, USA, Cbmunoz@brooklyn.cuny.edu

Session in English

From Wal-Mart to G4S to Foxconn, workers confront global corporate empires whose operations and economic power extend around the world. Global corporate actors restructure local economies and connection them to global economic networks in new ways. They empires present new challenges to worker solidarity, within and between countries, but they also create opportunities for new forms of resistance. 

This panel will compare differences and similarities across a range of national settings in the effects of global corporate strategies on industrial organization, labor relations and state regulatory contexts. It will examine union and worker responses, with the aim of generating more nuanced and systematic analyses that can facilitate global labour solidarity. Papers dealing with country specific examples in retailing, wholesaling, supply chains, service provision are encouraged.

Open Rank Professor
Area: Sociology
Position Title: Open Rank Professor
Position Code: ASHA4910A
Status: Open

Description:
The University of California, Merced is a dynamic new university campus in Merced, California, which opened in September 2005 as the tenth campus of the University of California and the first American research university in the 21st century. In keeping with the mission of the University to provide teaching, research and public service of the highest quality, UC Merced offers research-centered and student-oriented educational opportunities at the undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels through three academic schools: Engineering, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences/Humanities/Arts.

The School of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts invites applications from exceptional scholars for one position in Sociology at the Assistant Professor (tenure-track) or Associate/Full Professor (tenured) level. Preference will be given to scholars who have the ability to teach graduate statistics; and who specialize in the study of social inequality (race, class, gender or sexuality), education, labor markets, immigration, or health and well-being. UC Merced is building a dynamic and high-quality Sociology faculty and we seek an outstanding scholar to assist with training graduate students in our new PhD program. Applications must be submitted online by October 15, 2013.

The University of California, Merced is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer with a strong institutional commitment to the achievement of diversity among its faculty, staff, and students. The University is supportive of dual career couples.

Qualifications:
PhD in Sociology or a related field at the time of appointment. Additional criteria: excellent record of publication and the ability to teach graduate statistics.


Salary:
Negotiable, based on University of California Salary Scales

Closing Date:
10/15/2013

To Apply:
Interested applicants are required to submit 1) a cover letter 2) curriculum vitae 3) statement of research 4) statement of teaching 5) a list of three references with contact information including mailing address, phone number and e-mail address and 6) three writing samples.

**Applicants for the Associate/Full Professor level should include a list of three references with their applications; letters of reference are not required at this time.**

**Applicants for the Assistant Professor level should arrange to have three letters of reference submitted online. After an application is submitted, the letters of reference should be electronically uploaded by the letter writers (instructions will be provided by the application system).

Applications must be submitted via this website.

Apply Online

For more information:

Please contact Professor Paul Almeida at palmeida@ucmerced.edu.

The School of Labor and Employment Relations at Penn State University invites applications for two tenure track or tenured faculty appointments at the Assistant or Associate Professor rank to begin August 2014.  The School seeks candidates with research and teaching interests and expertise in the following areas: international/comparative labor and employment relations; labor economics, with an emphasis on globalization; labor and employment law; and organizational behavior.

Applicants should possess a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline.  Candidates for the Assistant Professor rank must possess significant research potential; candidates for the Associate Professor rank must have a strong research record. External funding potential will also be considered.

The School of Labor and Employment Relations is a growing multidisciplinary program with strong B.A. and B.S. in Labor and Employment Relations (LER) and M.S. in Human Resources and Employment Relations (HRER) programs.  The School plans to initiate a Master of Global Workers’ Rights program in 2014 that will be associated with Penn State’s Center for Global Workers’ Rights and a graduate concentration in international human resource management that will be associated with the School’s Project on International Human Resource Management. These faculty positions, where appropriate, will participate in these initiatives.

Electronic submission of applications is strongly preferred. Candidates should submit a letter of application and a curriculum vita to http://www.la.psu.edu/facultysearch.  All candidates should request letters from three references to be sent directly to Trisha Everhart, pxm205@psu.edu. If unable to send electronically, applications can be mailed to Paul F. Clark, Professor and Director, School of Labor and Employment Relations, The Pennsylvania State University, 506 Keller Bldg., Box A, University Park, PA 16802.  Applications received by November 1, 2013, will be assured of consideration; however, all applications will be considered until the position is filled. Employment will require successful completion of background check(s) in accordance with University policies. Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management
100 Main Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02142


Faculty Position in Work and Organization Studies

The Work and Organization Studies (WOS) group at the MIT Sloan School is seeking to hire an individual whose research focuses on work and employment issues.  The rank of this position is open and both junior and senior candidates will be considered.   Candidates must have their PhD at the time of their appointment.

WOS is a new group that merges two former groups at Sloan, the Organizational Studies Group and the Institute for Work and Employment Research.   As such the WOS faculty is interdisciplinary and the new hire’s background is open and might include sociology, organizational behavior, political science, or economics.   We are open to a variety of styles of research (quantitative, ethnographic, field based) but we do expect that the new hire would approach work and employmentissues from what might be termed a “macro” or “structural” point of view.    Our group also contains strong social psychologists and candidates with that background are encouraged to consider our other position announcement in leadership. 

WOS is part of the Behavioral and Policy Sciences Area, one of three major areas at Sloan.  We encourage multidisciplinary work with colleagues in other parts of the School, and several members of the group are also members of other groups in the School (Communication, Economic Sociology, Information Technology, Strategy, System Dynamics). 

WOS has teaching needs in negotiations and it would be desirable (although not essential) if the candidate could teach in this area.   It is expected that the candidate be prepared to teach at all levels:  MBA, executive, PhD, and undergraduate. 

Please submit applications electronically at https://sloanfacultysearches.mit.edu/wos/ providing a cover letter outlining interests and experience, a current CV, and one or two papers that indicate your research focus and capabilities.  Applicants should also arrange for three letters of recommendation to be submitted via this link. Applications are due November 9, 2013

MIT is an equal opportunity employer committed to building a culturally diverse and pluralistic intellectual community and strongly encourages applications from women and minorities

Assistant/Associate Professor- Labor Relations and Collective Representation-21534
Description
 
The ILR School at Cornell University invites applications for two tenure-track faculty positions at either the Assistant Professor level or as Associate Professor with tenure to begin August 2014.
 
The ILR School is the world’s leading college focused on work, employment, and labor issues. Information about the ILR School is available athttp://www.ilr.cornell.edu/. Our faculty includes leading scholars from a number of disciplinary backgrounds who study a broad range of issues related to labor and employment.

Qualifications
 Applicants should have research and teaching interests directly related to labor relations, workers/labor movements, and/or collective representation in a North American or International-Comparative context. Applicants should have a Ph.D. in a relevant field such as industrial relations, sociology, political science, economics, organization studies, management, or other related discipline. Evidence of very strong research and teaching potential is essential.
 
Applications from women and minority candidates are strongly encouraged.
 
Interested candidates should email a cover letter describing their research and teaching interests, a vita, a writing sample, and three reference letters to Rhonda Clouse (rlc29@cornell.edu).
 
Professor Richard Hurd, Chair
Labor Relations Search Committee
c/o Rhonda Clouse
374 Ives Hall
ILR School
Cornell University
Ithaca, NY 14853-3901
 
Review of applications will begin October 1, 2013. Questions about this position can be directed to Prof. Richard Hurd (rwh8@cornell.edu), Prof. Alex Colvin (ajc22@cornell.edu), Prof. Eli Friedman (edf48@cornell.edu), or Prof. Sarosh Kuruvilla (sck4@cornell.edu).

Cornell University is an innovative Ivy League university and a great place to work. Our inclusive community of scholars, students and staff impart an uncommon sense of larger purpose and contribute creative ideas to further the university's mission of teaching, discovery and engagement. Located in Ithaca, NY, Cornell's far-flung global presence includes the medical college's campuses on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and Doha, Qatar, as well as the new Cornell Tech campus to be built on Roosevelt Island in the heart of New York City.
 
Diversity and inclusion have been and continue to be a part of our heritage. Cornell University is a recognized EEO/AA employer and educator.

Research in the Sociology of Work is accepting manuscripts for Volume 26, focusing on "Immigration and Work." (Expected publication early 2015) 


We invite manuscripts that address issues of immigration and work broadly defined, such as entrepreneurship,labor markets, low-wage and high-wage work, technology, globalization, equity and discrimination, and racial/ethnic relations in the workforce. Submissions may be quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods. We welcome submissions from all fields. Submissions should be 8,000 – 10,000 words. The deadline for submission of manuscripts is May 15, 2014.

Submit manuscripts/inquiries/abstracts to Jody Agius Vallejo (Editor, Volume 26), University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Department of Sociology. Electronic submissions to vallejoj@usc.edu preferred. For more information on Research in Sociology of Work (Lisa Keister, Series Editor) see: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/series/rsw 

The Industry Studies Association (ISA) is pleased to invite nominations for its Annual Dissertation Award competition. The goal of the award is to recognize and reward outstanding doctoral research in the area of industry studies. The award is accompanied by a $500 honorarium for first prize and a $250 honorarium for second prize.

Nominations are due by September 20, 2013, but can be submitted at any time. For more information about the nomination and selection processes, please visit: (http://www.industrystudies.org/page/dissertationaward).

To be eligible for the competition, candidates must have completed a doctoral dissertation in economics, management, engineering, political science, sociology, or in a related or interdisciplinary field between July 1, 2012 and June 30, 2013. Candidates must have successfully defended their dissertations and received the final approval and all required sign-offs on their dissertation document by June 30, 2013. 

We hope you consider nominating a promising graduate student for this award and please feel free to post this announcement to other appropriate email distribution lists.